The Ten of Wands is illustrated brilliantly by the tale of the Sorcerer's Apprentice, well known to some because of the Mickey Mouse cartoon, well known to others because the story is from Goethe here. A side-by-side version of the original and an English translation can be found here.

As the final numeric card in the suit, this card is about excess and over-fulfillment of the characteristics of Wands--so it's about overwork, but assumed voluntarily. The young apprentice sets the brooms in motion because he thinks he can control the magic, but he can't. The story reminds us, in a more lighthearted way than we usually see in this card, that it is a good idea to be sure that we can finish what we start.

The color scheme on this card is more autumnal than most cards of the deck. The deck tends toward bright colors with clear reds and blues, this card has earth tones.

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